Foreign Parts

No, we haven't gone away -- this is right here in Bellingham, albeit a part of the city I rarely frequent. I took this just outside Hardware Sales this morning, one of Phil's favorite places.

We had to take one of our cars in for a front end alignment, so we both set off for the car repair shop about 8:30 this morning. After the ailing one was dropped off, Phil wanted to stop at Hardware Sales before going home, and I, the driver, acquiesced.

I find Hardware Sales almost as much a terra incognita as visiting a bazaar in a foreign city would be. To be fair, I could spend hours at Hardware Sales, just like Phil does -- but I'd spend it puzzling over weird-looking tools and products I'd never thought about, such as eight different colors of paint for tractors, not to mention overhearing conversations that include "You'll find that just past the toilet seats."

When we came out, I was caught by the shape of that enormous cloud and the web of wires above, and the hard frost on the parking lot and the looming vehicles below. Even though I could never call this blip beautiful, there's something about it that pleases me.